Trade pattern (Rice)

Export pattern

The total export of rice by 155 countries in 2004 was 430.95 lakh tonnes.  India is the second largest exporter after Thailand in 2004. India's share in exports was 15.56% in 2004 compared to 32.91% for Thailand. Other rice exporters included Vietnam, United States, Pakistan, Italy, Uruguay, Australia, China and Argentina. India exported 67.07 lakh tonnes in 2004. The target for 2006-07 was 100 lakh tonnes. The following table shows the variation in the pattern of export of rice (Qty) by top six countries during the period 2002-2004.

Major exporters of rice in the world

The following piechart shows the share of exports of major rice exporters in the world during 2004. While Thailand and India contributed 32% and 16% respectively of the export volume,  Vietnam and US contributed 13% and 10.5% respectively.  Other countries consisting of 149 rice exporters which included Egypt, Italy and Uruguay contributed 19% of the exports.

India’s rice export increased from 22.09 lakh tonnes in 2001-02 to 50.67 lakh tonnes in 2005-06.  The export earnings went up from  Rs. 3174.14 crores to Rs. 7174.35 crores during the same period. One striking feature of India’s rice exports is the decline in the share of basmati rice due to significant increase in the export of non-basmati rice. Although export of basmati rice increased from 6.67 to 11.61 lakh tonnes between 2001-02 and 2005-06, the share of basmati export declined from 30.20% to 22.92%. In value terms too, the share of basmati rice declined during the same period from 58.06% to 42.24%.

India's export of rice during the years 2001-02 to 2005-06

The volume and value of rice export during the period 2001-02 to 2005-06 are given in the following bar charts.While the volume of exports rose by 129% during the 5 years of the current decade, value of rice exports rose by 126 per cent during this period.  

India's export of rice in terms of quantity and value during 2001-02 to 2005-06